


between the wars,

by Poe



Series: Drabbles [6]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Captain America Steve Rogers/Modern Bucky Barnes, Established Relationship, Hopeful Ending, Nail Polish, Nonbinary Bucky Barnes, Other, Slice of Life, a tiny lil thing that i wrote on tumblr then forgot about, nonbinary author trying to do their best
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2020-08-23
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:07:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26068450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Poe/pseuds/Poe
Summary: Bucky paints Steve's nails.That's it, that's the fic.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Series: Drabbles [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/630734
Comments: 30
Kudos: 82





	between the wars,

**Author's Note:**

> Bucky is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns throughout. I don't know if they're AFAB or AMAB and frankly that's none of anyone's business. :)

Steve loves the quietness of Bucky doing his nails. His world is so often frantic, bursts of action and adrenaline, waiting to move and then moving faster than the enemy, because he has to.  
  
When Bucky does his nails, there’s a stillness to it. The only one of them moving is Bucky, manoeuvring Steve’s fingers and swishing the tiny brush to and fro with practised steadiness. Bucky holds their breath when they work, letting it out between fingers, their brow furrowed in concentration. Steve likes to watch Bucky’s face as they work, the way they bite their bottom lip and make it red as cherries and just as tempting to nip at.  
  
His teammates ask, the press asks. But none of it intrudes. When Bucky paints his nails yellow as the sun and it trends on Twitter, sunshine soft against the harshness of his shield, he doesn’t say anything.  
  
He’s allowed this for himself. These moments, when nothing is urgent and when all of Bucky is focused on the small repetitive motions that move like waves through Steve’s very being, calming the storm for a little while.  
  
Bucky’s nails are painted too, always, this time an alternating baby blue and baby pink, the soft curve of them delicate yet biting later when Bucky drags them down Steve’s shoulders, marking skin with a hurt that doesn’t mean violence. A gentle hurt, that Steve wears like a tattoo, urged on and deliberate.  
  
There is waiting, as Steve’s nails dry, and that is when they talk, when Bucky leans across and presses fingertips to the broken line of Steve’s nose, to the sharp angle of his jaw. It’s a tenderness that damn near breaks Steve every time, and Steve wants to let it, because Bucky would put him back together again, sewing with gold thread until Steve shines bright.  
  
Steve uses these hands to kill, to maim, to destroy. And then he comes home and Bucky presses kisses to the roughened palms, taking Steve in like a stray, with an ease that leaves Steve awestruck time and time again.  
  
Bucky looks up from their task and smiles, wide and crinkled upwards at the edges, and Steve finds that he can smile back. It took a long time to find, _home_ , a place free of demands or commands, but here it is, in his partner’s eyes, grey like the sky before a storm, like how it could pour at any moment, but hasn’t broken yet.  
  
There’s something in that, in not breaking. In not being broken. And being with Bucky, Bucky who is beautiful and strong and clever and soft and the opposite of war - Bucky reminds him that whilst the stitches Steve uses to pull himself together are not the fabled gold, they still leave a more complete whole, slowly coming to resemble something solid. Enduring.  
  
Steve’s heart beats true in his chest and he wonders if maybe one day he could have this for real, not just in stolen moments between battles, between the endings of the world.  
  
Steve looks at Bucky and sees hope. Steve looks down at his nails and sees the intricately drawn red heart on the nail of his ring finger, not quite a promise, but it could be.

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a dumb cute thing I wrote for tumblr like four months ago and then entirely forgot about until someone liked it today and I was like 'oh yeah! that was good actually!' and it's probably not good, but it is cute so.
> 
> Cute is what we aim for (hi 2005 emo kids, I KNOW).
> 
> You can find me at jbbarnes.tumblr.com because if I stay at one url for too long I turn to stone. Comments are amazing and no comment is too short or silly. You can send me Stucky, Geraskier or Bucky/Diego prompts too! Very cool of you to do that. 
> 
> Thank you for reading. <3


End file.
